Avynlea's First Cheer Competition!

This year is the first year that Meridian Middle School cheerleaders got to compete at the TVCI (Treasure Valley Cheer Invitational) competition. They had competition tryouts in October and then they hit the ground running with stunt clinics and practices 5 days a week. The days leading up to the competition have been filled with nerves and a lot of excitement. They had a parent watch dress rehearsal on Monday and it was so fun to finally see the routine I have been hearing so much about. Avynlea was placed as a flyer and she was at the top of every pyramid. 

The morning of the TVCI I got up at 6:00 to get ready so that I could help Avynlea get ready. I did her hair and then took her to Rocky Mountain HS to drop her off since she had to be there earlier then the doors open. 

 I found the section where some of the other Meridian Moms had saved seats and was able to squeeze in with them and save some seats for the ones coming to watch Avynlea. Which ended up being Kenedy, Rylee, Alison, Kylie and Amelia and Maddie. Trista had planned on coming but a big snowstorm hit and her Dad advised her to not travel which was good advice that she took. Alison reminded me that last year at the TVCI when we went to watch Kenedy it was snowing a ton. We remember because we left in the middle of Kenedy's competition to take Rylee to her Basketball game and we were sliding a lot and it was coming down hard making it hard to see. Crazy weather!

Avynlea's team performed second in their category and they did such a good job! I loved every second of it and was so impressed with how well they did. It was so exciting and I loved seeing their coaches reactions when they were done. The girls performed their very best and left it all on the mat! Avynlea said later that was the best they had ever done it and I could tell.

Avynlea is the top girl on the Left.

After they were done they got to sit on the sideline to watch Meridian High School JV perform their routine. I love watching the sister schools support each other. Meridian Varsity had to pull out a couple of days prior because they had too many girls injured and sick. In the bottom picture Avynlea is sitting 4 from the right.

Since Avynlea was done with her routine and wasn't performing any more I took Rylee home with me so she could go with Alison to Nyssa for a couple of hours. Kefford and Ryker were already out there working on his pickup and Rylee would come back with them. Kenedy came home and then left to go visit with her friend Drew. And Alison and crew left so they could get errands run and get back to Nyssa. Avynlea stayed at the competition with her teammates watching the rest of the schools compete.

I came back to the school at 2:00 to watch awards and get Avynlea. When I got there all of the cheerleaders were on the floor dancing to the music and having fun while they waited for the scores to be counted. I took a picture of Avynlea when I saw her up on one of her teammates shoulders watching what was going on in the middle of a group of cheerleaders. Avy is wearing the black jacket.

Finally it was time for awards and Meridian Middle placed second only losing by 1 point to Eagle Middle School. We were all so excited and happy for our cheerleaders and gathered them all together for a group picture with their trophy. 

Avynlea and Hope

 Kylie, Amelia, Rylee, Maddie, Avynlea and Grandma Alison

Kenedy loved coming and watching her sister and thought she did so amazing!

Fast Sunday and Cheerleading

We usually take a side pew at church but on this Sunday we sat in a middle pew so we could have room for Kenedy and the kids she was nannying. It was so cute seeing her walk in with a huge backpack diaper bag and the four kids filling behind her. It seriously made me excited for the future date, far future date(but hopefully not tooo far), when she is a Mom and I will have Grandkids. I wanted to take a picture of them sitting at the end of our row because it was too cute and I wanted to send it to their parents but I couldn't get a good angle because Brigham was sitting too far forward. 

So I passed the phone to Rylee and she took a better picture for me. 

That evening when we were watching a movie Rylee came over to tell me something and I love how she plopped down and put her arm around me. It is nice to still get a bit of a cuddle in every once in a while with my growing up kids.

It is Basketball and competition season for cheerleading. I went to watch Avynlea cheer at the MMS boys basketball game and then afterwards I ran some errands before heading back to the school to watch their competition dress rehearsal. She is so good and loves cheer so much, it is so fun to watch her perform. I took the pictures of her cheering at the basketball game. I took video of her competition routine but I want to wait to share until I have video and pictures from the competition cause that is the video I want to share. 

Living so close to the Temple I often get asked to watch kids so their Moms can attend. I really don't mind and love the opportunity to spend more time with my nieces and nephews and their Moms. Mikell asked me if I would watch her kids while she did inititories Tuesday morning and of course I told her no problem. I then invited Brit to bring her little ones over so she could go as well. Kenedy brought Molly over and it was a  full but fun house. I did nail polish on the girls and then they played with the toys I brought in from the garage. Jason was having a hard time with his Mom leaving him and we got him to stop crying after turning on the fireplace, then he got a cupcake to stop him crying when he started up again. Finally the last 15 minutes of them being here without their Mamas I turned on a Garfield show on Netflix and he finally stopped crying for good.  

Brooke, James, Jenna, Jason, Xander, Hazel and Kelly

The next day Michelle asked if I would watch her boys so she and Trevor could go do sealings at the Temple for their anniversary. I told her no problem and after they dropped their boys off I found a problem. Caleb was great but Garrett screamed bloody murder for most of the time. I thought he might have some gas pains because he kept stiffening his body but then he belched and kept screaming. He was acting really tired and wouldn't take his binky so I just rocked and jiggled and bounced and tried to soothe him the best I could. Finally he fell asleep about 15 minutes before his parents got back and since I couldn't do anything else I put on a show for Caleb. Michelle told me that he usually screams like that when he is tired and she just rocks him and after a couple of minutes he falls asleep. I must not have the magic touch because it took over an hour to get the stinker to fall asleep. 

Happy 14th Birthday Avynlea!

Saturday morning I went upstairs to make sure Avynlea was up and getting ready for cheer practice and then I went downstairs and made funfetti birthday pancakes! Ave loves pancakes and I wanted to make her some extra special ones for her birthday. I put sprinkles in the mix and then added a birthday candle to her stack of pancakes. 

Cheer practice got done at 1:30 and when it was over I was there to pick Avynlea up and then we went shopping. I wanted to get Avy some new clothes for her birthday but since she is much better at knowing what she likes then I am I decided to have some fun with her and take her shopping. She got some new jeans at Hollister and then we went to Costco to get some things for the Orthodontics Practice and get some groceries. While we were there Avynlea picked out her birthday dinner which was chicken salad and croissant sandwiches. I love it when it is easy!

After Costco we went to H&M where Avynlea picked out a couple of cute sweaters. It was a lot of fun going shopping with my girl and spoiling her just a little. 

We decided to celebrate Avynlea's birthday on Sunday because Avynlea was invited to a friends birthday party which was on her birthday and she really wanted to go. So when we got back Avy put on her new jeans and her new sweater and Kefford took her to her friends house. 

With nothing else to do that night Kefford, Ryker, Rylee and I packed some snacks and went to the movies to watch "Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindewald" It was interesting but a little confusing for us to follow. I did manage to stay awake through it although I was getting a massive headache by the end of it. 

I told Avynlea I would pick her up after the party which was at 11:00pm! Way too late for me and it was raining really hard, driving in the dark in the rain is scary for me and I really do not like it.

Kenedy is in town for the week nannying for a family in our ward and on Sunday we invited her to come over with the kids for dinner and to celebrate Avynlea. 

After dinner Avynlea finally got to open her presents and she got some really fun stuff

A Calico Critters nursery set, Scrunchies, Gummies and sweatpants.

She also got gum, more scrunchies, a cork board with fancy push pins, clear lipstick, and a sweater. She had on her birthday list that she wanted scrunchies "the more the better" and did I deliver scrunchies. I think there were 14 floral and plain chiffon ones in the first package and 36 velvet ones in the second. She has every color she could ever want or need. Thank you Amazon!

Avynlea was a having a hard time deciding on what kind of cake she wanted so I mentioned why not have her favorite bakery sugar cookies as a cake. She thought that was a great idea and so I stacked the cookies and added candles and it looked really cute. Almost as cute as the birthday girl :)

Kenedy's charges had fun helping Avynlea look through all of her scrunchies. They are the Chidester kids and in the picture you see Landon, Brooklyn and Brigham. Molly, the youngest, is on Rylee's lap and kind of hidden.

Of course with a new Calico Critters set addition out comes some of the rest of the collection for some inspection and fun.

Avynlea's Favorites:

1. Food: Chicken Salad and Croissant sandwiches
2. Dessert: Bakery Sugar Cookies
3. Candy: Almond Joy
4. Color: Blue
5. Book: The Secret Language of Sisters
6. TV Show: The Office
7. Radio Song: Used To Be by AJ Mitchell
8. Church Song: Army of Helamen
9. Scripture Story: Abinadi and King Noah
10. Friend: Sadie Niblitt
11. Thing to do: Hanging out with Friends
12. Place to be: In Bed
13. Toy: Kindle
14. Princess: Belle
15. Hobbies: Cheer, piano and singing

5 things I Love About Avynlea:

1. Her smile. I love how happy she is and I adore her dimples! She has had those since birth and I love how she looks with them. She is beautiful inside and out and I love her confidence. 

2. Avynlea works so hard in school and has maintained her straight A average another year. She is kind and is good to help other kids at school  and I have gotten many emails from teachers telling me how thankful they are for having her in their class. 

3. Avynlea loves going to church and is developing quite a firm testimony of the Gospel. I love that she likes going to church and never complains about attending on Sunday or going to mid week meetings. Avynlea made a goal a long time ago to read her scriptures, write in her journal and say her prayers every night and I am so happy she has stuck with this habit. She has been working on her Personal Progress and has a goal to have it complete by the end of the year.

4. Avynlea started cheering this year and I love watching her enjoy her sport. She is a hard worker and really talented and in my opinion she is the best on the team. Middle Schoolers get to participate in competitions this year and she has loved being on the competition team. She is a flyer and is at the top of the pyramid because she is so good. Avynlea has learned new skills a lot faster then the other flyers and it was been fun to see her so excited to be learning more and improving.

5. Avynlea is my friend and I love hanging out with her. She makes me laugh with her quick wit and I love that she is usually the first one to volunteer to go with me to run errands. She has such a fun personality and I love that she will come and visit with me at halftime during the football and basketball games she is cheering at. She is a lot of fun to be around.

Spa Party and a Baby

It is really hard to take the kind of picture I want when I am the model and the photographer.

This one Mermaid my day.

 Jessica Lewis asked Avynlea if she would watch Wells for them while their family went to the hot springs. Jessica even offered to let her watch Wells at our house which worked out great for Any because she wanted her friends to come over and hang out. Ryker wanted to hold him for a little bit and it was super cute how the baby just stared at him. 

 Rylee was invited to her friend Grace's birthday party and her Mom sent some pictures of the fun they had. They got to eat out, get ice cream, soak in the hot tub and do facials. Rylee had a lot of blast and I am so glad she has a fun group of school friends.

 Addie, Grace, Tayci and Rylee

Tayci, Rylee, Grace and Addie

SweetHearts Invite

One morning Avynlea came downstairs to tell me how cute Rylee looked as she was sleeping. I sent her back up with my phone so she could take a picture. I agree that she looks really cute in her sleeping pose.

 Brit was coming home from Utah with her kids Monday night when she ran out of gas on the freeway. Kelsey did not want to drive out from Emmett to get her gas so he asked Kefford if he would. Kefford is such a nice guy that he said he would do it even though he was so sick. Kefford caught the flu and it hit him pretty hard. He left with Ryker and then came back a while later with Brit and Kelsey's kids. Even with the gas Brit's car wasn't starting so she sent the kids with Kefford and waited for Kelsey and a tow truck to come. Asher stayed with his Mama so she wouldn't have to be alone which was sweet. Once the tow truck arrived Kelsey and Asher stayed with it and Brit took Kelsey's car to pick up her kids and take them home. I liked seeing them all gathered on the couch watching Ryker play his game. 

For mutual the girls learned how to conduct music to pass off a personal progress value experience and then they did Karaoke. I was questioning our decision of letting them do Karaoke but luckily it wasn't too bad and the night was over pretty quick. I took a couple of pictures of Rylee and her friends singing the song "Fight Song". They did an interesting job, the important part was that they had fun :)

Brynn, Saylor, Rylee and Taylee

When we got home Wednesday night there was a surprise waiting for Ryker on the front porch. His first dance invite. His friend Aubree was asking him to Sweethearts and the invite was so cute and creative. Even though he tried to downplay it I could tell that Ryker was excited.

 We had such a busy week that it wasn't until Sunday night that Ryker could respond to Aubree's invite. I had a bunch of AirHeads and so we came up with a clever saying. Ryker made the poster with input from me and then He, Rylee and I went to go leave it on her porch. Kenedy always had her friends around to help her with delivering invites and answers and I never got to be a part of it so I was super happy that I could go with Ryker to help him deliver his. We wanted to watch her open the door so I had Ryker park the car down the street a little bit from her house and while Rylee and I watched he snuck over to her house and left the poster on her porch along with more AirHead candies scattered around it. He rang the doorbell and ran to hide behind a parked truck, we didn't want him to get back into the car because it would have turned the light on and it takes a while for it to turn off. We did not want to be seen.

Once the door was opened I realized our mistake. Aubree has an older sister who probably asked someone to the dance also and we didn't put who the answer was to or from. I could see their confusion from where we were sitting but couldn't hear what was being said. Once they went inside Ryker sprinted back to the car and we left. He told me after school the next day that when he talked to Aubree she said they were confused but then her older sister got her answer in a class that morning so she sent a text to Aubree saying the one we left was for her.

College Roommates

Kenedy has been loving life in Rexburg since she got back. She loves her new apartment complex and her new roommates. They have a lot of fun together and like to hang out and go out. Kenedy sent me some pictures of them on a Sunday afternoon and then pictures when they went snowshoeing. 

CJ, Darcee, Kenedy, Michaela and Melynne

CJ and Kenedy

Michaela, Kenedy, CJ and Gina (Gina is a neighbor friend)

Kenedy and CJ

Seeing these pictures makes me so happy that she is forming fun bonds with her roommates and that she is having so much fun. College life is pretty great!

Rylee's first Temple Trip

I got to watch Mikell's kids one morning while she went to the Temple. By that time I still hadn't unpacked from my California trip so I had her kids keep me company while I did that and cleaned out my closet a little bit. The girls had fun trying on my shoes and dresses and they all enjoyed eating some of the candy I brought back from California. I love my Nieces and Nephews!

Jenna, Kelly, Brooke and Jason (James was not in the picture because he was off doing other more fun stuff)

 In December an email was sent out about a major change the church was implementing regarding the ages of our Young Men and Young Women. Starting January 1 The kids were going to move up as a group at the start of the year they turn 12, 14 or 16. This means that Avynlea will become a Mia Maid as a 13 year old and Rylee will become a Beehive as an 11 year old at the start of January and this also means that she will be able to go to the Temple to do Baptisms for the dead as an 11 year old turning 12. I was floored and so very excited. I could not wait to tell the girls that we would be able to take Rylee sooner then we thought. 

The girls were a little confused when I told them but thought it was pretty cool and a little strange. I agree with that but I think it is more cool then strange and only strange because it is such a big change. I told Rylee she was not allowed to go to the Temple for her first time without me. Since I was going to be in California till January 5th I thought she would try to go before I got back. She was ok with the wait and when Tuesday January 8th rolled around she and I were very excited for her first Temple trip.

Avynlea, Rylee, Ryker and I went to the Temple after school and we showed Rylee where to go and what to do. Ryker baptized both of them which was pretty awesome and Rylee really loved her experience in the Temple and can not wait to go back. I love taking my kids to the Temple every week and am so glad that we live close enough to a Temple to be able to do this. It has been a blessing for both them and I and I welcome any opportunity to strengthen my kids in the Gospel.

After we got out we took some pictures and then we stopped at McDonald's for ice cream cones. Rylee's first time in the Temple definitely warrants celebrating with ice Cream.